When
you have worked in the bus industry for most of your life it gets in
your blood in a way that is sometimes hard to explain.

There are many sites on the internet about buses but the interest for
me has always been in the history, routes, timetables and service
planning rather than the vehicles themselves.

That
is
not to say
that the 'hardware', the buses and coaches, are devoid of interest,
but rather that I tend to look to the uses to which they are being put,
and how well they (and their drivers and conductors) are being
employed, utilised and scheduled.

Over
the years, I have worked for several of the Dorset operators in the
list below, and although I have always preferred the country bus to its
urban counterpart, I have not let the name of this web site
preclude me from including some town services with which I have been
acquainted. Also included are some of the other interesting
British and European operations that I have come across in my travels
and researches over the years.

Many children of my generation dreamed of becoming an engine driver
when they grew up, but as a child my thoughts turned instead towards running my own
bus company. That ambition was realised in part as I was
fortunate enough that my transport career led me to become manager for
a time of two of my 'favourite' operations (Rossmore and
Stanbridge).

Before all is forgotten, why not click on a link or two and take a
pleasant ride with me down and along the winding lanes of nostalgic
memory?

There
was a time, a simpler time, a quieter time, when the village bus played
a significant role in the life of our villages and countryside, taking
people to town and market. A time before the proliferation of the
private car, a time when farming and agriculture were still major
employers, a time before the appearance of even single channel
television, when an evening trip to the cinema was still a favoured
entertainment. The village bus was part of this country way of life,
part of the community, and most often a small business with but a few
vehicles and based in one of the villages served.Bordering
Wiltshire to the north, so it was in and around Cranborne Chase in the
eastern part of the county of Dorset, in an area of rolling downs and
gentle valleys and pleasing villages. And this was good agricultural
land too, on which many of the people of the area earned their
livelihood over the years. Although in some ways the countryside seemed
timeless and unchanging the needs of the villagers evolved through a
historical succession of transport, starting with the carrier and his
horse and progressing to the motor bus in both its traditional and more
modern forms.Thus
the setting of the stories told in these pages which, within the limits
of the frailties of memory and the few surviving written records, will
attempt to record the efforts of those who served these villages over
the years.

THE
COUNTRYBUS
WEBSITE - SIXTEEN YEARS ON THE INTERNET

RESEARCHING
AND RECORDING THE HISTORY OF RURAL TRANSPORT

My
friend and colleague ROGER GRIMLEY has published many books recording
the history
of bus and coach operators in the West Country, from Cornwall and Devon
to Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.

All
copyrights and trade marks freely and gratefully
acknowledged. Information compiled with thanks from
a miscellanyof
sources including many of my own recollections and experiences.
Any errors are mine alone.Further
information is welcomed on any of the operators, routes and
services featured on the web site, or
indeed any other similar interesting bus
operations in the areas described!
Peter Roberts, Countrybus